@marian said:

How about like this?

Nah!

One like THIS!

The Kango 900S 11kg Demolition Hammer! Note the word Demolition! (with the capital D!)

@thomthom said:

@thiago luz said:

Let's create a new program, RevolutionUp

You say that as it's an trivial task...

What I wonder is, if so many people have given up on SketchUp, why are they still using it? Why not move on to an application with a toolset that fir their needs?

Thiago, Jeff Hammond made a really good suggestion to all those who want a "more powerful SketchUp", by switching to Bonzai 3D. Then you wouldn't have to devise a new production team, because AutoDesSys already have you covered!

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=30586&start=165

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(www.formz.com)

PS, I don't think I could have said it better than Jeff has in his last post.

However, I think people flock to SU instead of Bonzai, because it is free, and the SU Pro version is cheaper than Bonzai!

@mrwip said:

... If you still think it's a bunch of nonsense, then I'm sorry...

"violent"? No, quite the opposite.

Thanks too for making yourself more clear. I am English, and speak with an english 'tongue'. Sorry if you are not used to that.

Looking at you proposition now, having such a tool doesn't sound as complicated as it did before. It's a good idea. A more intelligent tool, that recognises when you are near a curve, and so then allows a different tool behaviour, if say is accompanied by pressing another key.

I think what made me jump was once using SpaceClaim, which claims to be an engineering version of SketchUp (SketchUp on steroids, as the marketing blurb suggests), and the tool automatically updates for you, which is, in my mind, wrong. I actually found that this behaviour slowed down my workflow! But it could work, if it had an option key that allowed this behaviour.

As for my 6 year old, Key Stage 1 children don't have a hold on the idea of being able to extrude a curved wall (some- yes, but a very small minority). It's only until they reach upper key stage 2 that they start to grasp this concept. This is why, this SU tool should stay as it is (but an option key to trigger this behaviour, yes. I'd support that).

I hope that makes sense now.

Tom

@adamb said:

But while we all love SketchUp, its by no means bullet proof.. so it slightly falls between 2 camps: Neither the tough workhorse, nor the fancy higher order surfaces design tool.

I kind of agree, but for now it does (almost) everything I want it to do. But it's like that hammer argument set out by Thom, SU is only a tool, part of a bag of tools. If you engineer too much into one software title, you then, if you are new to that title, have a very steep learning curve. It's important to have tools that can complete 100% of the job, but that need just a little more thinking about- and that's where the plugin comes in.

Personally I'm not too keen on too many plugins, because I am then forced to think like the programmer who made them, and some think in other ways to the rest. Again, I'm with Jeff, where I think that you should be able to bloat SU as much as you like, or like me, keep it as simple as possible. To me that is a great plus (+) for SU.

PS, Adam, I'm originally from Lewes.

@unknownuser said:

Wanna hear a rant though? I'm so sick of people demanding all these visualization functions so they can beautify their rather stale drawing ideas.

that's about the most boring building I've seen in my life but hey look!, it's really similar to a photograph. Wonderful... Not

Spot on Jeff!

@mrwip said:

Actually, when someone says on the forum “we should add this function”, I'm really sad to see that there is always someone to respond “no, no, keep sketchup simple”... that classical answer clearly shows that there’s no innovative research in term of interface going on.

What a load of arrogant nonsense! It is precisely SketchUp's innovative interface that makes SU so easy to use. My 6 year-old daughter was building houses within 20 minutes of first using SU's innovative interface. How many other titles out there can claim this? Blender? 3DS Max? Cinema 4D? Heck! I can't even figure these apps out straight away, yet alone a 6 year old child! Drown SU in multifaceted buttons and devices, and the interface bombs.

Look at any design which has lasted. Take the humble transistor FM radio. An on/off button. A volume control, and a tuning dial. Simple as anything, but it works, and is reliable. You can turn it on and be listening to the radio straight away. Anything with menus and a over complicated interface, and you're ready to throw the damn thing out of the window (DAB for eg).

John, fancy going into partnership with Unity?

@unknownuser said:

@unknownuser said:

@jbacus said:

If you are an architect, it may be interesting to know that we have just granted you convenient access to Google's complete collection of geo-spatial imagery for more or less the entire world. In many parts of the world, you can now build a site model with accurate terrain, aerial and street-level photography and rough massing models for adjacent structures in minutes... without leaving your desk.

john
.

Working for an architect I see this as a huge improvement as well. I was able to generate the entire site for a local airport we are working on in only minutes. Wow I say, wow.
It may seem that this release has been geared more for Google Earth but all the added functionality I will be able to use in my workflow and I have never contributed to Google Earth.
Although I might soon enough.

lol
i used this one simple video to send to the homeoffice showing a site we're planning for and immediately received approval to upgrade to su8.

Brilliant news!! Thanks very much John! I'm so pleased that I didn't buy 7.1 Pro. Well worth the wait!

@notareal said:

@unknownuser said:

...but still, what are you going to gain from more memory?

Maybe not important for everyone, but one simply reason for me, going to 64-bit SU would allow 64-bit renderer work in context of SU. It's already possible to create a SU scene that will not render with SU integrated 32-bit renderer, because of memory restrictions.

Sorry, but I find it amusing that you are still hammering through the 64-bit arguement even after it has been explained that you won't really notice any difference in speed improvement, then to start on about rendering, when you have links to renderers in you sig! Whatssup? Are these no good?

@khai said:

but no one's using Collada!
everyone's using OBJ.

put it this way. OBJ is better...because ppl are using it. Collada maybe technically better on paper.. but if no one's using it.. it's not better.

right now, to use a Collada model I have to take the DAE into Softimage Mod Tools, save out as a FBX then take the FBX into Wings3D where I can then take it to OBJ...which everything else reads without problems.

take a look. do your own research and you'll see the problem. many apps are writing DAE.. but only a few - SU is one - that reads it...

it's comical!

I'm sorry Khai, but I really have to contradict you here. Yes, you are right, no one apart from Google are (seems to be) using COLLADA, but that doesn't mean that COLLADA is not better, it just means that everyone who are using OBJ (including developers) are ignorant! I have exactly the same problem as you. I need FBX for export to Unity, and hacking a COLLADA file just isn't doing it for me (I used to have to use Autodesk's bloody awful converter- which never works properly ). I have found the Sket2FBX application which works extremely well- but needs the entire Mono framework installed to get it working! No exactly elegant. With FBX, I can export models with faces containing image data and much more, OBJ, I cannot, and often get thousands of triangles that I then have to post process. Again why have this when COLLADA could do all this hassle free?

I take my hat off to Google for pushing this along, it's really up to us users to now request COLLADA in the other tools that we use. Why Unity doesn't, I haven't the foggiest (and yes, it's preposterous that it seems like it is up to users to demand these little import/export updates). I really don't like OBJ, but people use it, because they are used to the file format, and don't want change or progression (well that's my reasoning anyway). A bit like the ongoing DWG/DXF's saga, really.

@outrider said:

Here is the link to the video I saw.
http://www.samtrimble.com/php/shell.php?url=http://www.samtrimble.com/videos/bears.avi&width=400&height=300
The model itself is pretty simple, but the animation at the end is something I've not seen in sketchup before. I'd like to do something like that in my own project.

I can't get this link to work properly. (I use Google Chrome. Will try Safari.....Strange, kind of works in Safari, but I have to scroll my mouse wheel to get it to move through all the frames. But I get the idea now ).

It's very basic. No idea how it was created though.

@unknownuser said:

@pixero said:

[

@tfdesign said:

and btw, "yoke" is something that comes from an egg.

Sorry, I'm not natively english speaking.

hey wait, a 'yoke' is that thing for chaining oxen together..
the stuff in an egg is 'yolk'

Yes, you are absolutely right!

No offence was intended, I was just poking a bit of 'English' fun. Anyway, Jan admits that he is a "grumpy old man"!

I bet Bucky wouldn't be moaning about SU8. I reckon he'd love SketchUp!!

@pixero said:

I no longer believe SketchUp will be a major player in the professional architecture industry.

Oh stop being so over melodramatic! What on earth are you talking about? Why is this so? What nonsense!

SketchUp is beautiful!

As for BIM intelligence, go get Archicad, Revit or Vectorworks for that (and shell out the rest!).

Google Earth is extremely useful. And it's free, which means my children can use it, as well as inspiring them to become future architects, engineers and designers. Heck, you can even update GE to a professional GIS package if you wish. Alternatively, that's what ArchGIS is for. Is ArchGIS built into Revit, Vectorworks etc? Of course not!

When I show my SketchUp models to common, ordinary people, they are thrilled. No one ever questions the quality of the modelling, animation or rendering. People seem more amused by the inclusion of a toilet! It seems that it is only architectural visualisation technicians who grimace over these minor little details. A bit like hi-fi, and the quest for that 'perfect sound'.

and btw, "yoke" is something that comes from an egg.

@serge.n said:

Which announcements?

This one.

But I guess being a Windows user, you probably would have missed that?

@thomthom said:

I think there'll be a 8.1 before 9.0 - SU6 and SU7 both had interim releases. And 7.1 was a big one.

Yes, I agree. I would have also said that 8 was released because of deadlines (and all those silly rumours about SU being abandoned). FWIW, there have been some very big announcements recently in the world of CAD, including that biggy from Autodesk. I would imagine Google/@Last are just trying to hold on to their customer base?

Tom

Personally, I think Blender is awful. Awful interface, awful backup, possible one of the most arrogant communities I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. Awful! I am so pleased that SketchUp is nothing like Blender, both by application and online forum.

As it is, SketchUp is fine. I'm in no hurry for an update right now, mainly because I'll loose DWG import, but then again, the Pro version of SU isn't really very much outlay anyway. It wasn't very long ago when there was a major update to SletchUp. If there is no update in 3 years time, then I may start to 'worry', but until then...

Tom

I should mention Greg of Caffeinated Games Ltd's brilliant little Sket2FBX app, that converts COLLADA to FBX rather well (I couldn't get the SU one to work very well). It needs the MONO framework to get it to work, but that's no problem.

Cheers Greg!

Tom

Hi Andrew.

Have you looked at Unity at all? Unity will work with SketchUp Pro (with SUP's FBX exporter), has all kinds of brilliant stuff built in, and is free as long as you are not making over $100,000 per year(!).

Oh, it is also cross-platform (Mac & PC), has a really great interface- which looks very 'Cocoa', and also supports Android as well as iPhone and iPad devices.

Just download it and have a play with the "island" demo it comes with!!

301 Moved Permanently

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I've looked at Sketchers Studio, but am slightly worried that nothing has been updated for almost a year now- although it's a very nice looking price.

regards,

Tom